EasyJet forecasts return to near pre-Covid flying levels in 2022
EasyJet said it was heading for summer with “strong momentum and optimism”, flying at near pre-pandemic capacity in peak season as the lifting of Covid restrictions helped the airline narrow its half-year losses and look to a return to profit.
Chief executive Johan Lundgren said easyJet was benefiting from “pent-up demand and removal of travel restrictions” as well as a strategic decision to run more of its flights on popular routes.
EasyJet said that since the Easter holiday in mid-April, it had been operating 1,600 flights and carrying up to 250,000 customers a day. The airline added that it was facing the summer travel season “with optimism”, by when Lundgren said capacity would be at 97% of pre-pandemic levels.
“As we return to a more normal summer season, we are ready to capture the increased levels of demand right across our network,” he said. “We are confident in our plans for summer which will see us reaching near 2019 flying levels and look forward to competing with our renewed strengths as a winner in the post pandemic recovery of European aviation.”
He said the airline would have to “wait and see” how economic worries would affect winter bookings, but added: “The unemployment numbers are really important for us – when people have the certainty of an income that is good for this industry.”
While fuel and cost of living rises would be an issue, he added: “People who have the opportunity to prioritise, over the cost of surviving, tend to choose holidays over expensive items. EasyJet has done well in recession because people trade on value, given our competition face to face is against legacy carriers.”
The budget airline narrowed its losses to £557m in the six months to March, compared with £645m in the same period a
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